Tony Stewart’s Driver Unfazed by Consequences of SHR Downfall on His Future

This could very well be Riley Herbst’s breakout season. Although still winless in 2024 heading to Nashville this Saturday, the 25-year-old is running 6th in the points standings. That would be his highest-ever in four full-time Xfinity Series seasons with Tony Stewart’s race team.

Riley’s second-tier teammate, Cole Custer sits atop the points table, waiting on his first-ever regular season championship, following a triumphant 2023 season. Yet, as it all unfolds, the duo couldn’t have chosen a worse time to bring forward such stellar performances. After all, this is the last year we see SHR run laps around the rest of NASCAR, with/without either owner’s collaborative presence involved in the mix.

But as the futures of the race team’s Cup drivers face constant speculation, so do those of their wheelmen in Xfinity. And with rumors of Custer potentially finding a backer in Gene Haas and his Factory team, it seems like Herbst has plenty more “options on the table.”

Monster Energy and Kevin Harvick Inc: The support system for Riley Herbst’s future

Herbst will be making a doubleheader appearance at Nashville this weekend. The 1.33-mile oval is one of Riley’s better tracks, as he has finished on the podium twice in the last two years, and claimed the P10 spot in three consecutive years before that. On last year’s Nashville date, the #98 driver was dealt a crew chief change with Daven Restivo, ex-lead engineer for Aric Almirola’s team replacing Richard Boswell, who left to join Chase Briscoe as crew chief of SHR’s #14 Cup outfit.

At the onset of 2025, however, Riley will face a complete organizational switch, quite an escalated version of his fortunes from last year. But it won’t just be him, it will be all 300 or so employees, and 5 other drivers currently scrambling for a new contract at a different race team with SHR’s foreclosure hanging heavy over their heads. The luckiest out of them, Chase Briscoe is confirmed to be a part of Joe Gibbs Racing’s 2025 lineup as driver of the #19 Toyota, once Martin Truex Jr retires. The others are still in the dark about their futures. 

When talking about his similar, (yet not so similar) situation to the media, at Nashville, Riley laid out a plan of action and some positive bearings about his potential 2025. Answering a question from Performance Racing Network reporters about ‘solidifying his future, he would state, “I think there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes. But it’s not really just Riley Herbst. It’s Monster Energy as well. So the biggest thing is trying to see what’s right for me, what’s right for Monster Energy. And I have really good people around me with Josh Jones and Kevin Harvick trying to guide me in the right position. And I’m going to lean on their experience (like) I have last year. I’m going to again this year. And there’s a lot of options on the table. So we’re looking forward to everything and hearing everybody out.” 

The Nevada native’s anchor sponsors Monster Energy have been supporting his and the Herbst family race team’s wider motorsports advances, etched in gold throughout the deserts of the Southwest. Some might know about Herbst Motorsports’ Baja 1000 trucks championing the Monster Energy logo on their 1000+ mile journeys across the Baja California peninsula. It is safe to say that partnership has been around Riley longer than he’s graced the folds of Stewart-Haas Racing,

He took those advantages and turned them up to eleven when he signed with Kevin Harvick’s talent management company, Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) in 2022. Josh Jones is the acting vice president of KHI. After receiving their guidance, Riley won his first NASCAR race only last year, at the Vegas Xfinity playoffs encounter. But his real growth was further evident when the follow-up question to the previous inquiry was put out as: “Are those options in Cup?” Riley made a truly encouraging statement when he replied, “It’s all three series.”

Each Race is not an audition for a future Cup star

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The next two-part question by Rob Albright, also of PRN probed Herbst about his preferred ‘school of thought’ between being in a ‘good Xfinity Series ride’ or a ‘mediocre’ Cup car. Similarly, the media personality summed up his collective query, in the next line saying, “And then the followup to that is: do you feel any additional pressure like each race is now an audition, especially when you’re running both races this weekend?”

Elaborating on the first part of that question, Riley would tell the room about his realistic observation. “At least, for myself and my sponsor, it’s important to be in competitive rides. I think that’s the easiest way to learn, is surround yourself with good people and put yourself in good equipment. So that’s first and foremost… I think that’s going to be our priority for us this offseason, where we land, is to be in a ride that’s extremely competitive whether it be in any three series,” answered Herbst, emphasizing the value of quality connections and proper support in NASCAR racing.

As for the second question following the first, Herbst answered with a contrasting example, “I don’t honestly, and the reason why I tell you that is because I felt like I’ve surrounded myself with good people. So if we go out and have a good run tomorrow and Sunday in the Cup car, I don’t think that solidifies anything. And if I go out and do what I did in Kansas, I don’t think that solidifies anything either. It’s just about learning it’s about completing all the laps and it’s about becoming a better race car driver.”

Certainly, Riley is making his efforts heard, in an attempt to become a race car driver. He already boasts one extra podium finish compared to his run of form from last year, 16 races into the 2024 Xfinity Series season. As for his Cup Series advances, Riley will make one more than he did last year at Nashville, with Rick Ware Racing gunning for a doubleheader victory. Never mind his below-average finishes at Daytona (P24) and Kansas (P35) earlier this year. With rumors of teams like Joe Gibbs Racing interested in Herbst’s rapidly growing stock, a win would only help solidify his entrance with his future employers, as soon as 2025.